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What is soap and how does it work?
The sudsy stuff we use every day of our lives is a mystery to most of us. But behind our cleaning products is an array of scientific data and information. This science and chemistry helps to ensure our products work and are safe for you and your family to use. The resources below will walk through what it means to be clean and how the cleaning process works. For more information and activities, we encourage you to check out…
Make your own mini-book: The Art of Sciences & Bubbles is now available in a downloadable PDF format.
Combine water and detergent.
Stir well, but do not shake.
For stronger bubbles, add ½ cup corn syrup or glycerin, or more detergent.
Experiment with different brands of dishwashing detergent until you find one that works best for you.
HINT: Playing with bubbles can be messy and slippery! Try blowing bubbles outdoors, near…
Cleaning technology has come a long way from the ancient Babylonian way of soap-making. Today’s cleaning products are the result of thoughtful design, experimentation, and safety testing.
The machines we use to clean have also improved, becoming more sustainable and friendly for our environment. So far we have been able to make new cleaning products that allow us to wash in cold water (saving energy from water heating), wash with less water, and make packaging smaller (to save…
Cleaning products play an essential role in daily life. They can remove dirt and stains from our clothes, dried on food from our dishes, and even germs from our hands! Let’s learn more about the chemistry that makes this happen.
What Is Cleaning?
Cleaning is the process of taking something dirty—like your kitchen counter—and removing dirt, grease, and grime found on it. When we clean, we leave things better than they were when we found them. Cleaning helps remove dirt,…
Think about all the "public" surfaces you touch on your way to work – railings, door handles, coins and tokens, cash machines, elevator buttons and more. Then, when you get to your destination, washing your hands probably isn't the first thing you do. Instead, you probably grab a cup of coffee and turn on your computer. If you power up before you clean up, all the germs and bacteria that commuted with you are transferred from your hands to your workstation. Ugh! And then, if…
No matter the type of product you are using (soap or detergent), good cleaning takes a lot of energy. Three different kinds to be exact:
Chemical energy, provided by the soap or detergent
Mechanical energy, provided by a machine or by hand
Thermal energy, provided by heating water Let’s look at how all these elements work together.
Assume we have a great, big, oily, greasy stain on one of our favorite shirts. Water alone is not enough to remove the stain and get our shirt clean. That…
With a little preparation, you can be ready to enjoy a stress-free picnic.
When preparing or serving food in the great outdoors, there are a few extra steps and considerations that you may not have at home or even in your backyard. Food needs to be stored properly to be safely consumed during your al fresco meal. Spills and stains have more time to set before they can get to the laundry. And you need to be prepared to clean up thoroughly to leave things better than you found…
Surfactants (yellow) cause water to lose surface tension, which is what keeps water separate from other materials
Have you ever seen a bead of water sitting on a surface? This is because water has a property called surface tension. This tension causes water to form a bead on the surface of things like glass or fabric. You can see surface tension at work by placing a drop of water onto a counter top. The drop will hold its shape and will not spread.
In order to clean the dirt on our clothes,…
Schools may be out for summer, but this is no time to relax your handwashing habits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, keeping hands clean through improved hand hygiene is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.
Everything you need to know about handwashing you probably learned in preschool. But, if you forgot, here’s a reminder of the steps for washing your hands:
Wet your hands with clean, running water (…
There's lots to teach about cleaning! The origins of personal cleanliness date back to prehistoric times. Since water is essential for life, the earliest people lived near water and knew something about its cleansing properties - at least that it rinsed mud off their hands. And clean hands keep you from sharing germs. Browse ACI's publications for teacher resources.
STEM Education
The…